The present disclosure relates to a drug solution administration apparatus that is used to administer a drug solution into a living body.
A mobile drug solution administration apparatus for administering a drug solution such as insulin over time while being attached to the skin of a user (patient) targeted for administration is known. The drug solution administration apparatus allows automatic and continuous administration of a preset amount of the drug solution to a patient as an administration operation and also allows addition of another amount of the drug solution at the patient's instruction at the times of meal, exercise, and the like. An appropriate amount of the drug solution is administered by such a drug solution administration apparatus to the patient to allow the drug to act with sufficient efficacy.
If the administration operation is performed with air present in a drug solution flow path in the drug solution administration apparatus, or if there is a delay between when a drug delivery mechanism of the drug solution administration apparatus is started and when drug delivery is actually started, the air may be injected in a living body, or it may become impossible to accurately determine an amount of the drug solution that has been administered into the living body. Hence, the patient typically needs to perform a filling operation before starting the administration operation. The filling operation is performed as follows: a controller is operated while the drug solution administration apparatus is not attached; a slightly larger amount of the drug solution than an amount corresponding to the internal capacity of the flow path of the drug solution administration apparatus is delivered and the drug delivery is continued; accordingly, the discharge of the drug solution from the drug solution administration apparatus to the outside is visually confirmed.
If the filling operation is performed while the drug solution administration apparatus is attached, not only is the air injected into the living body, or does an accurate amount of the drug solution that has been administered into the living body become impossible to be grasped, but also may an excessive amount of the drug solution be administered into the living body when drug delivery is continued. On the other hand, if the drug solution administration apparatus is accidentally detached from the living body during the administration operation, the drug solution intended to be administered may leak to the outside of the living body so that an insufficient amount of the drug solution is administered into the living body. In addition, it is impossible to accurately determine the amount of the drug solution that has been administered into the living body. Moreover, if the administration operation is performed while the drug solution administration apparatus is not attached, the expensive drug solution leaks to the outside, and also it is difficult to accurately determine the amount of the drug solution that has been administered into a living body.
JP 2009-016635 T discloses an apparatus that is configured such that an injection unit that injects a drug solution into a living body while being attached to the living body and a delivery unit that delivers the drug solution to the injection unit can be coupled to each other. The apparatus notifies a patient of a coupled/decoupled state of the injection unit and the delivery unit and encourages the administration of an appropriate amount of the drug solution.